Actuator



Sept 10, 1945 `T. N. HANNANT U 2,407,269

ACTUATOR k Filed Jan. 12, 1944.

Gtkorneg Patented Sept. 10, 1946 ACTUATOR Theodore Norrson Hannant,Cedar Grove, N. J.; assigner to Specialties Development Corporation,Bloomfield, N. if., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 12,1944, Serial No. 517,923

Claims. (Cl. i4- 502) My invention relates to `actuators and has as yone of the principal objects thereof the provision of an actuator soconstructed and arranged as to lend itself to fast operation whereby themeans operated thereby is conditioned for performing its duty Within aminimum period of time.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the foregoingdescribed character which is equipped with means for automaticallylatching the device in a predetermined position upon operation to insureproper functioning of the means operated by said device and foreffecting release thereof from said position when desired. l A furtherobject of my invention is to provide a device of the foregoing describedcharacter which is simple in construction, durable in use, efcient inoperation, easy of assembly, economical in manufacture, and which lendsitself to high productivity.

Other and further objects of the invention Will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice. Y

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawing,forming a part of the specification, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of an actuator asso ciated with the controlhead of a high pressure fluid medium container, illustrating anembodiment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional View of the actuator taken on the line 2-2of Figure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are top plan views, partly in H section, illustratingthe actuator in non-operated and operated positions, respectively.

As illustrated in the drawing, the actuator or pull-knob assembly 5comprising a housing or barrel E formed with a longitudinal bore 1 inwhich a pull-knob shaft or operator 8 is slidably and rotatably mounted.The shaft 8 at one end 9 is provided with a swivel It connected to aflexible control head operating member, for instance, a cable I I. Theopposite end of the shaft extends into and is fixed to a pull-knob I2 bymeans of a pin I 3, the pull-knob being disposed on the outside of thehousing 6 for actuating the shaft t longitudinally within the housing toan extended position (Figure 4) and for rotating the shaft While in itsextended position -to permit vlongitudinal movement of the shaft to itsprevious non-` operated position (Figure 3) within the housing ashereinafter made apparent.

The pull-knob shaft 8 is formed with a planocylindrical intermediatesection I4, to provide a fiat face I5 (Figure 2) defined by a pair 0fend shoulders le and which flat face coacts with the face of the bore toform a guideway II in which extends the end of a stop-screw I8 carriedbythe housing and which screw I8 engages the fiat face I5 to precluderotation of the shaft while in nonoperated position and during operationto extended position. Although the stop screw I8, in this embodiment ofthe invention as shown in Figure 3, is disposed substantially about theaxis of the shaft 8 from the detent 2|, the screw and the detent may bedisposed at some other angle about the shaft axis. The end of theintermediate section IlI, adjacent to the swivel I0, is formed with acircumferential groove I9 having a depth coincident with the depth ofthe shoulders I6 and with a circumferential bottom face 20 merging withthe flat face I5 of the shaft.

The housing is provided with a spring-pressed detent 2l slidablyengaging the peripheral face of the shaft when in retracted position andwhich seats within the groove I9 to positively latch or lock the shaftin extended position when the shaft is so operated.

The housing 6 is mounted on a bracket 25, the latter being secured tothe control head 26 of a high pressure fluid medium container 27.Pivotally mounted on the bracket, adjacent to the control head, is aspring-pressed arm 28 having one end connected to the cable I I and theopposite end disposed for operating the control head mechanism in amanner to release fluid medium from the container upon operation of theshaft 8 to extended position. The spring-pressed arm 23 functions at alltimes to maintain the shaft, through the medium of the cable, under thein iiuence of its spring, thus, when the shaft is disposed in extendedposition, the spring-pressed arm serves to operate the shaft tonon-operated or retracted position when the shaft is released ashereinafter described.

M W hen the shaft is moved longitudinally by the pull-knob to theextended position for operating the control head mechanism through themedium of the cable (Figure 4) the detent 2I engages one of the sidewalls of the slot I9 to positively retain the shaft in extended positionand to thereby cause the actuator to effect continued operation of thecontrol head mechanism. When the shaft is in this extended or operatedposition the stop-screw I8 is disposed within the vgrooVe 3 I9 to permitrotation of the shaft as about to be described.

In order to return the shaft to its initial or non-operatedv position,the shaft, in this instance, is rotated about 180 to effectdisengagement of the detent from its positive locking cooperation withthe side Wall of the groove by placing the fiat face I5 at the top ofthe shaft, as viewed in the drawing, in which position this face slidesunder the detent, until the stop screw I8 engages the side Wall of thegroove which stops further longitudinal inward movement of the shafttoward its retracted position. At this time, the detent is resting onthe flat face I5 partially to the lright of the groove I9. Upon furtherrotation of the shaft for about another 180, in either direction, thedetent is cammed out of the guide- Way I'I by movement on the shaft fromthe flat face I5 to the outer periphery of the shaft, and registry ofthe stop screw with the guideWay I1 is effected, thus permitting theshaft to be longitudinally guided to its retracted position by theoperation of the spring-pressed arm 28, as heretofore described.

In order to discourage unauthorized operation of the actuator and toindicate whether the same has been operated, the bracket 25 and the arm28 are formed with openings 29 through which extends a seal wire 38, theends of the latter being connected together by means of a seal 3 I Whenthe arm 28 is operated by the actuator the seal of the Wire is broken,thus indicating that actuation of the control head mechanism has beeneffected.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that my invention is especiallyadaptable for use in connection with fluid pressure medium operateddevices, where it is desired to effect an initial operation of thecontrol head mechanism and to retain the control head mechanism inoperated position to continue discharge of the pressure medium for adesired period without manual manipulation of the actuator. This leavesthe hands of the operator free to attend to other details. This isparticularly advantageous Where the actuator controls Various emergencydevices, such as flotation gear, emergency bomb bay door operatingequipment or emergency landing gear mechanism because it enables theoperator to Work other controls during an emergency while the actuatorcontrolled device performs its functions.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein, Without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and Without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in any limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all the generic and vspecific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, control means including a movable arm biased in onedirection,.a exible element connected to said arm, a rotatively andaxially movable shaft, a swivel connection between said element and oneend of said shaft, said shaft having a peripheral groove one side ofwhich next to said element constitutes an annular shoulder and the otherside of which constitutes an abutment of less than complete annularityby an amount substantially as defined by a peripherally narrow fiatsurface of said shaft flush with the bottom of said groove and extendingfrom said groove toward the other end of said shaft, a handle at saidother end, a bearing for said shaft, a stationary stop in said bearingcooperating with said flat surface to prevent rotation of said shaft ininitial position and until said shaft is moved axially from suchposition by a pull on said handle against said bias to a position inwhich said shoulder engages said stop, and a detent in said bearingmaintained by said shaft in retracted position until engagement of saidstop by said shoulder at which point the detent is movable into saidgroove for cooperation with said abutment, said shaft operating undersaid bias when said handle is released to be disengaged from said stopand to cause said abutment to engage said detent, partial rotation ofsaid shaft causing said abutment to disengage said detent and providingfor axial movement of said shaft to place said detent on said flatsurface and said abutment against said stop, and further partialrotation of said shaft moving said detent to retracted position andplacing said flat surface in line with said stop for axial movement ofsaid shaft under said bias t0 initial position.

2. In combination, a rotatively and axially movable shaft having aperipheral groove one side of which constitutes an annular shoulder andthe other side of which constitutes an abutment of less than completeannularity by an amount substantially as defined by a peripherallynarrow flat surface of said shaft extending from the groove along theshaft, a bearing for said shaft, a stop on said bearing cooperating Withsaid flat surface to prevent rotation of said shaft in initial positionand until said shaft is moved axially from such position to a positionin Which said shoulder engages said stop, and a detent in said bearingmaintained by said shaft in retracted position until engagement of saidstop by said shoulder at which point said detent is movable into saidgroove for cooperation with said abutment, said shaft operating inresponse to axial movement thereof toward initial position to disengagesaid shoulder from said stop and to cause said abutment to engage saiddetent, partial rotation of said shaft causing said abutment todisengage said detent and providing for axial movement of said shafttoward initial position to place said detent on said fiat surface andsaid abutment against said stop, and further partial rotation of saidshaft moving said detent to retracted position and placing said flatsurface in line with said stop to provide for axial movement of saidshaft to initial position.

3. In combination, a rotatively and axially movable shaft having aperipheral groove one side of which constitutes an annular shoulder andthe other side of which constitutes an abutment of less than completeannularity by'an amount substantially as defined by a depression of saidshaft surface extending from the groove along said shaft, a stopcooperating With said depression to prevent rotation of said shaft ininitial position and until said shaft is movedv axially from suchposition to a position in which said shoulder engages said stop,'adetent maintained by said shaft in retracted position until inregistration with said groove, and means for urging said detent intosaid groove-partial rotation-of said shaft causing said abutment to'disengage said detentvto placeY said detent in said depression andproviding for placing said abut-,.

ment against said stop, and further partial rotation of said shaftmoving said detent to retracted position and placing said depression inline with said stop to provide for axial movement of said shaft toinitial position.

4. In combination, a member adapted for movement along and for movementabout an axis and having a depression, one side of which transverse tosaid axis constitutes a shoulder and an opposite side of whichconstitutes an abutment through which a guide extends from saiddepression along said axis, `a stop `cooperating with said guide toprevent movement of said member about said axis in initial position anduntil just before said member is moved axially from such position to aposition in which said shoulder engages said stop, and a detentmaintained by said member in retracted position until engagement of saidstop by said shoulder at which point said detent isvmovable into saiddepression for cooperation with said abutment, said member beingoperative to disengage said shoulder from said stop and to cause saidabutment to engage said detent, certain movement of said member aboutsaid axis causing said abutment to disengage said detent and certainfurther movement of said member about said axis moving said detent toretracted position and placing said guide in line with said stop toprovide for axial movement of said member to initial position andproviding for placing said abutment against said stop.

5. In combination, a shaft having a peripheral groove one side of whichconstitutes an annular shoulder and the other side of which constitutesan abutment, said shaft having a at surface therealong communicatingwith said groove through said abutment, a stop cooperating with saidsurface for preventing turning of said shaft in an initial position andduring axial movement of said shaft to just before a final positionwherein said shoulder engages said stop, a detent disposed adjacent tosaid stop spaced peripherally of said shaft from said stop, and meansfor urging said detent toward said shaft, said detent being maintainedin retracted position by said shaft until the latter is moved to saidfinal position whereupon said detent moves into said groove forcooperation with said abutment.

THEODORE NORRISON HANNANT.

